Ancient Native
American
Civilizations
Native Americans originally
came from Asia.
• During the
Ice Age,
Asia and
America
were
connected
by a land
bridge.
• 20,000 years ago, people must have walked
across the land bridge while following herds of
animals.
• Their journey must have been difficult.
They must have lived mostly by hunting large
mammals.
Some Native Americans stayed in Alaska and
Canada. They are still there today.
• These people
traveled south and
eventually filled up
North and South
America.
There was so much food in the Americas that
most people never needed to farm.
• They could hunt,
fish, and gather
more than they
needed.
• For this reason,
civilization was
slow to come in
some places.
Some Native Americans started farming
between 5,000 and 3,000 B.C.
• They had few domesticated animals such as
cows, pigs, or chickens.
• Some Native American farmers had turkeys or
llamas.
• Native Americans grew corn, potatoes, squash,
pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers, chocolate,
tobacco, and beans. The rest of the world did
not have these crops until after 1492.
• Some Native Americans learned how to make
clothing from cotton.
Comprehension Check
• Where did the first Americans come from?
• How did they come to America?
• Why were some Native Americans slow to
start farming?
• What did Native American farmers have?
• What did Native American farmers not
have?
The first Native American
civilization was the Olmec.
• The Olmec started in
Mexico in 1300 B.C.
The Olmec built giant
temples and statues.
Their civilization
lasted over a
thousand years.
Another ancient
Native American
civilization in
Mexico was the
Maya.
• They Maya were
strongest between
250 B.C. and 800
A.D.
The Maya
lived in
Mexico.
• The Maya built huge cities and pyramids.
They used boats to trade with people all
over the Americas. They wrote books to
record their history. They studied the sun,
moon, and stars very carefully.
In the Andes Mountains of Peru,
the Inca built a great civilization.
Their roads, bridges and buildings
still stand today.
• They were excellent at math and science.
• They had so much gold that in some places it
was used to make sidewalks.
• Just like the
Egyptians, they
would mummify
their dead
leaders.
The Inca civilization was special.
• They took care of all the people well.
People were equal. There were no poor
people.
One Native American civilization called the
Moundbuilders lived in the part of the
Americas that is the United States today.
• Not much is known about them, but they
built large mounds of earth to use as
tombs for their leaders. The mounds were
so large that they looked like large hills.
Some are in the shapes of giant snakes or
birds.
This Mound looks like a giant snake from above.
Another civilization of North
America was the Pueblo.
• The Pueblo
built their
cities in the
sides of
cliffs in the
desert.